provenance

place of origin of something
The provenance of sculpture is the place of origin of sculpture. The provenance of martial arts like Karate and Kung fu is China; that is, China is the place where this system of fighting originated. The provenance of the numerical system is India in that the system of numerals that are in use now is India.

That Asia Minor is the provenance of the Aryan settlers of India has been long held as correct but recent historians have their own doubts about the theory and argue that the Aryans were natives to India and had their origin in India.

The provenance of painting is still known. No art historian has been able to find out where and how exactly the art of painting began.